Mr. Speaker, this being the International Year of Volunteers, I recently had the opportunity to greet and thank the volunteers from Brome—Missisquoi who were chosen by their peers and who received a medal from the Government of Canada.

Mr. Speaker, the McWatters mining company of Val-d'Or filed its official plan of arrangement to restructure and reorganize its debt, liabilities and capital.

This plan will allow the company to attain long term financial stability. All involved stakeholders will benefit from the plan's implementation.

The company's president, Claire Derome, stated that “For the region of Val-d'Or, this is an exceptional opportunity both for employees and for the community to allow McWatters to gradually recover its role as a major contributor to the local economy. In the coming years, the number of people employed by McWatters will rise from the current level of 157, to more than 320 employees in 2004”.

After reading the plan, I am convinced that with its new partner Soquem, and financial assistance from the governments of Canada and Quebec, McWatters will receive a vote of confidence on January 23, 2002 to resume operations at the Sigma-Lamaque complex in 2002.

Mr. Speaker, this year is the 35th anniversary of an Edmonton event of such magnificence and spiritual delight that it truly is a spectacle to behold.

Forty-five feet tall with 6,000 lights on its evergreen boughs only begins to describe this wonderful extravaganza of sparkling colour and sound. One hundred and forty lend their costumed personages with voices raised in song, true human tree adornments in choral unison with the accompaniment of a full orchestra, a mesmerizing musical backdrop to an eclectic, ecclesiastical expression.

The Central Tabernacle and Pastor Bob Jones again this year present this delightful expression to the citizens of Edmonton. The Singing Christmas Tree has been an event, a spectacle and a spiritual message for 35 years. I congratulate all involved.

Mr. Speaker, I stand to pay tribute to the administration and staff of the House of Commons, clerks and researchers, Library of Parliament staff and their families, House security staff and their families, the RCMP officers who work tirelessly around the clock to keep this place safe along with House of Commons security and the translators in the booth who work tirelessly trying to keep up with us.

I also pay tribute to my colleagues in the House of Commons and their staff and families; to you, Mr. Speaker, as well as the table clerks who work tirelessly to make the House function very effectively. More than anything I pay tribute to the pages who put in a lot of hours to keep this place functioning and, above everything, all Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, in testifying last month before the justice committee of the other House, the Minister of Justice told the senators clearly that they should not waste their time proposing changes to Bill C-7. The minister considers the role of senators to be figurative.

However, to be on the safe side no doubt, some of the Liberal senators sided with the opposition in passing amendments, albeit minor, that would send the bill back to the House of Commons.

Why have a twisted law that no one wants, a law cobbled together from all over in the course of a long examination, when we already have a law to deal with young offenders, which has proven its mettle and which works well, as Quebec has shown repeatedly?

The Minister of Justice must listen to reason at least once in her life and seize the opportunity given her with the return of the bill to the House to arrange to have it put on hold and move on to other things for the greater good of young people in trouble with the law.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to draw the attention of the House to the signature of a declaration of intent by the Secretary of State for Amateur Sport and the President of FIFA, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association.

This is the first step toward a bilateral agreement on soccer. It will promote the development of elite soccer in Canada, the full participation of women in soccer, and the harmonization of antidoping policies between FIFA and the World Anti-Doping Agency.

More and more young Canadians are interested in soccer. For this reason, the Government of Canada has created the Canadian Soccer Foundation.

Our government is very much committed to promoting participation in soccer in this country. I sincerely hope that our efforts will culminate in a successful World Cup bid in the near future.

In closing, may I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and much happiness and health in 2002.

Mr. Speaker, here is one more reason parliament must show some leadership on the issue of home invasions. A woman who took part in an extremely violent home invasion in 1998 was given a conditional sentence of two years less a day for her part. As everyone knows by now, this means serving a sentence at home.

Sandra Rickovic and two others tied up and pistol whipped jeweller Jitendra Goldsmith and his wife. Their two young children were locked in a basement room at gunpoint while the grandmother escaped out a back door with a seven month old baby. Goldsmith, who operated a home business in Vancouver, lost nearly $400,000 in the robbery and was not insured.

Another of the home invaders, David Anthony Labadie, was convicted of break and enter, robbery, wearing a mask, using an imitation handgun, unlawful confinement and assault causing bodily harm. For his efforts he received a paltry seven years while the crown wanted fourteen.

In Bill C-15A parliament made home invasion an aggravating factor for sentencing. I supported that. If this is any indication of what we can expect from the courts there will be no alternative but to legislate mandatory minimum sentences for these vicious crimes.

Mr. Speaker, during the holiday season it is important to remind people of the danger of drinking and driving. I recognize the Bank of Montreal which again this year gave $10,000 to Mothers Against Drunk Driving for its red ribbon campaign.

Each December over 1,000 branches of the Bank of Montreal display MADD's coin boxes, red ribbons and posters. Staff and customers are encouraged to pick up a red ribbon and make a donation to MADD Canada. Like the good work of the Bank of Montreal we must all do our part to discourage drinking and driving during the holiday season.

Mr. Speaker, the fall sitting of parliament ending today has been extraordinary. From the first day our thoughts and legislative agenda have been dominated by the tragic events of September 11. We have sent our armed forces into combat, have been asked to grant our security forces unprecedented powers and have tried to reach out to our southern neighbours without sacrificing our national integrity and sovereignty. We have struggled not to destroy the very values we are trying to secure.

At the same time we have tried to maintain the regular business of this place so as not to concede to the disorder that is the very goal of the perpetrators of terrorism. We have called for a budget that would stand shoulder to shoulder with Canadians and invest in our future by strengthening the bedrock of civil society: the health, social and environmental needs of this great nation. In the coming year, together with our leader, the NDP caucus will continue to challenge the government's agenda.

But for now, Mr. Speaker, we pause to wish you and all of our colleagues the best of the season. We wish for you what we wish for ourselves: a holiday of thoughtfulness and rest, of assessment and compassion, a time to look back on the unbelievable year just passed and a time to plan for a new year of work informed by respect for each person's worth and by love for one another.

Mr. Speaker, once again, the session now drawing to a close has demonstrated the insensitivity and inconsistency of this government as far as the real needs of the population are concerned.

Last Tuesday, after more than five hours of debate, the Liberal government finally passed a bill creating the position of parliamentary poet laureate, whereas a week before that, this same government did not have more than five minutes to spend in the House on the anti-terrorism bill.

Instead of allowing members to debate matters as vital as rights and freedoms, the government imposed a gag order totally out of keeping with the fundamental values so dear to Quebecers.

While the Minister of Finance's budget totally ignores the demands of workers, youth, seniors and businesses, the government can find the necessary funds to sustain this new position. Let us hope there will not be any “Heritage poetry minutes”.

Mr. Speaker, it is a real honour for me to rise today to congratulate Dr. Sima Samar, this year's recipient of the John Humphrey Freedom Award.

On December 10, International Human Rights Day, Dr. Samar was honoured for her efforts to end the oppression of Afghan women and children. Putting herself at risk to fight for the rights of women to education, employment, mobility and medical care, for over a decade Dr. Samar has operated schools for girls and health clinics in Afghanistan and the refugee camps of northern Pakistan.

Dr. Samar has long advocated for women's involvement in public life. Now, as deputy prime minister in the Afghan transitional government, she will have a strong voice in the decision making of her country.

As Dr. Samar said “I will continue my work so that women's rights in Afghanistan will be counted as human rights and that girls will no longer be punished for having a notebook and pen in hand”.

Colleagues in the House warmly welcomed Dr. Samar earlier this week and I am confident that she understood in the thunderous and prolonged applause she received that she has our hopes and prayers, that we have her in our minds and that we wish her and the Afghan people the best of luck.

Mr. Speaker, the groundfish stocks, especially various varieties of flounder, show signs of rebuilding on the Newfoundland Grand Banks. However, constant overfishing by foreigners on the nose and tail is playing havoc with those stocks.

Allowing foreigners to fish shrimp on the Flemish Cap gives them the opportunity to flood the European markets with cooked and peeled shrimp while our producers face a 20% tariff on product going into the same market.

The nose and tail of the Grand Banks and the Flemish Cap are extensions of Canada's continental shelf. It is time for Canada to extend management control over the nose and tail of the Grand Banks and the Flemish Cap to protect our resources, our jobs and our people's interests. Let us show some leadership for a change.

Mr. Speaker, may I wish you and my colleagues a very happy Christmas and a happy and productive New Year.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Labour is in Quebec today announcing the funding of several projects for the homeless.

As part of the community action partnerships initiative, $56.7 million are allocated to Quebec. Last February, the Government of Canada signed an agreement with the government of Quebec for the purpose of providing communities with access to programs, services and measures to support their endeavours.

Homelessness is a problem that is cause for concern and must be dealt with urgently. I therefore salute the Government of Canada's commitment to supporting organizations that are involved in the daily struggle to help the homeless. Their contribution is indispensable to our society.

This initiative is one more example of the Government of Canada's desire to fight poverty in this country.

I would also like to take this opportunity to wish all Canadians health, happiness and, most importantly, peace, in the coming year.

Mr. Speaker, the travel wisdom of the Dakota Indians, passed on from generation to generation, says that when we discover we are riding a dead horse the best strategy is to dismount.

However, with this Liberal government a whole range of far more advanced strategies is often employed, such as: appointing a committee to study the dead horse; arranging a visit to other countries to see how other cultures ride dead horses; lowering the standards so that dead horses can be included; reclassifying the dead horse as living impaired, which is politically correct; harnessing several dead horses together to increase speed; providing additional funding aimed at increasing the dead horse's performance; doing a productivity study to see if a lighter rider would improve the dead horse's performance; declaring that as the dead horse does not have to be fed it is less costly, carries lower overhead and therefore contributes substantially more to the bottom line of the economy; lowering the expected performance requirements for all horses so that dead horses are included; and finally and most important, promoting the dead horse to a Liberal cabinet position.

Mr. Speaker, in February the then auditor general, Denis Desautels, noted that there are major regulatory shortcomings in risk identification and management. He pointed to several problems: increased government reliance on industries to regulate themselves, adoption of safety standards set by other governments, increased public skepticism caused by the slashing of in house government scientific labs and reliance on researchers with links to industry.

In addition, the fact that regulators consider economic consequences to business when they enforce safety regulations does create a potential conflict of interest. A typical case study of the shortcomings of risk assessment is the regulatory process for approving genetically modified foods. This was exposed in a report by the Royal Society. I urge the government to implement the society's recommendations to fix the regulatory system.